Boston Flora

Tag: Berkshire Botanical Garden

  • Saturday, March 20, 2:00 – 3:30 pm – Susan Dworkin: The Viking in the Wheat Field

    Join journalist Susan Dworkin on Saturday, March 20,  from 2 – 3:30 pm at the Berkshire Botanical Garden for an exploration of the world’s delicate supply of wheat, international agribusiness, scientific intrigue, and the Svalbard “Doomsday Vault.”  Learn about the extraordinary work of Bent Skovmand, one of the greatest plant scientists and pioneering seed bankers.  Follow his quest for “agriculture’s public library” as he spearheads an international effort to collect and preserve crop seeds to ensure that we won’t starve.  Dworkin will share tales of daring agricultural rescues and discuss the politics and perils of monoculture and patenting of plant genetic resources by corporations. She also will examine how the citizenry must overcome the urban-rural divide in order to protect the world’s harvest.  Enjoy a reception and book signing with the author following the lecture.  All proceeds benefit the Berkshire Botanical Garden Education Department.  Members of BBG $16, non-members $21.

    Susan Dworkin lives in the Berkshires.  She has written several biographies and social histories, including the bestseller The Nazi Officer’s Wife.  Her articles have appeared in Ms., Ladies Home Journal, The New York Times, and  other periodicals.  Her fascination with agriculture dates from early stints at the US Department of Agriculture and as a journalist covering agricultural aid programs in the Middle East.  For tickets and more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Friday, December 4, 5:00 – 7:30 pm – Holiday Marketplace Cocktail Party

    The Berkshire Botanical Garden will host a Holiday Marketplace Preview Cocktail Party on Friday, December 4, from 5:00 – 7:30 pm.  This is your chance to do some early buying of handcrafted wreaths, holiday decorations, seasonal blooms and greens, herb products, crafts and gift items.  The Holiday Marketplace itself begins Saturday, December 5 and runs through Sunday, December 6, from 10:00 am – 5 pm.  This event is part of Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas celebration.  Admission on Saturday and Sunday is free, but there will be a charge for the Cocktail Party.  Call 413-298-3926 for details and reservations.

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  • Saturday, October 10, 10 am – 12 noon – Gardening with Bulbs

    Consider the many ways to integrate bulbs into the home landscape including enhancing the perennial border, designing foundation plantings or naturalizing a woodland setting. Learn all about the cultivation of bulbs both minor and major. Review a wide variety of both traditional bulbs (daffodils, tulips, lilies and hyacinth) and learn about the more unusual ones including allium, colchicum, scilla, galanthus, camassia, and frittilaria. Watch a demonstration on planting. David’s wonderful bulbs will be on sale following the lecture. David Burdick has been a practicing horticulturist in Berkshire County for more than twenty years. He worked for nine years at BBG and an additional nine years at Windy Hill Nursery. He is a popular teacher for the Horticultural Certificate Program and is currently operates a specialty bulb and cut flower business Daffodils and More at Holiday Farm, Dalton.  This program will take place at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 10, from 10 – noon, and costs $16 for BBG members, $21 for non members.  For more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

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  • Saturday – Sunday, October 3 – 4, 10 am – 5 pm – Berkshire Harvest Festival

    The Berkshires’ longest running and best-known community event will take place during the first weekend in October, October 3 – 4, from 10 – 5, at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. An old fashioned, family-oriented community festival with something for everyone, including rides, games, food, music, crafts, giant tag sale, and lots more. Parking fee includes admission.  For directions and more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Saturday, September 26, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Pruning Shrubs and Small Trees

    Autumn is a great time to assess your woody plants for shape and structure. This demonstration/workshop, to be held at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 26, from 10 am – 1 pm, will focus on pruning, including: when, why and how to shape, renovate, train or rejuvenate your woody plants. Learn about pruning tools, timing, and specific techniques available to the home gardener. Participants will learn the basics of pruning, including rejuvenating an old lilac and shaping a small flowering tree. Pruning techniques specifically for hedges both evergreen and deciduous will be covered. Ken Gooch, Massachusetts Certified Arborist, is the Department of Environmental Management’s Forest Health Specialist for Berkshire County. He is an educator and lectures widely on a variety of topics including forest health, pruning, and arboriculture.  Cost of workshop is $20 for BBG members, $25 for non-members.  For directions and more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.  Wear waterproof outerwear and footwear and bring pruners.

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  • Saturday, August 8, 5 – 7:30 – Berkshire Botanical Garden 75th Anniversary Garden Party

    The 75th Anniversary of the Berkshire Botanical Garden will be celebrated at the garden on Saturday, August 8, from 5 – 7:30 pm with a festive summer gala cocktail party honoring the Lenox Garden Club, original founders and patrons of the Garden.  Call 413-298-3926 for details and reservations.  Directions may be found at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Saturday, August 1 – Sunday, August 2 – Berkshire Botanical Flower Show

    Travel to the Berkshire Botanical Garden for its annual exhibition of floral design and horticulture, including special children’s classes.  Entries are invited.  Call 413-298-3926 for details, or log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.  Hours are Saturday, 1 – 5 pm, and Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm.

  • Saturday, July 18, 10 – 4 – Williamstown Open Day

    The Garden Conservancy partners with the Berkshire Botanical Garden to sponsor this Open Day.  For information and to reserve tickets, log on to www.gardenconservancy.org.

    152 Ide Road, Williamstown

    This garden, surrounding an old carriage barn, is divided into rooms to resemble the English gardens loved by the owner/gardener/English professor. A walled garden leads to a formal pool, with an island waterfall and the divine lotus that blooms in mid-July. The entrance, a rustic pergola, borders a trellised, ornamental kitchen garden. A white garden, surrounding clumps of native birch, pays homage to Sissinghurst. A folly, with broken stones and a dripping column, evokes ancient ruins, while an arched window on an old marble base, framing the folly, the long hot border, or the distant landscape, looks into the past and future.

    260 Northwest Hill Road, Williamstown

    This lovely house features a harmonious landscape of interweaving meadow, lawn, stone terrace, gardens, pools, and house. Elegant, yet informal, the outdoor spaces vary in character from a dramatic woodland ravine, to an intimate bedroom shade garden, to an expansive lawn with views of Mount Greylock and Dome Mountain. Guests are immediately welcomed by an arrival garden with a terraced front entrance. They will visit a rhododendron and hosta shade garden, a rock garden with fishpond, and a lower grove with a sitting garden. Each is unique in character, yet intimately connected with the house and the surrounding multi-level terrain.

    Brooks Garden, 36 Keep Hill Road, Williamstown

    This garden surrounds one of the first “modern” houses in Williamstown, which was built in 1948 overlooking the valley and Mount Prospect beyond. The pond and fountain in the entrance circle is one of four made by the owners. On the west side of the circle is a small katsura grove. Connecting the house and garage is an herbal courtyard with a pergola and trellis that holds grapevines, wisteria, and kiwi in profusion. In the middle is a small pond with a quiet fountain surrounded by herbs and pastel spring flowers which give way to warmer colors that attract hummingbirds and butterflies later on in the summer. A larger pond and watercourse is found in the more extensive part of the garden where paths connect different rooms—a shade garden and sedum garden are among them. On the east side of the house is a small vegetable garden, a grove of lilacs, and the patio with a small fountain. All landscaping, garden design, stone walls, and care are provided by the owners.

    Mount Hope Farm, Williamstown

    Views of Mount Greylock and the Taconic Range from informal gardens makes this property enjoyable to see any time of day. Carol and Bob began creating their gardens at their hilltop home in 2000. Carol is interested in newly introduced, native, and sometimes rare plants, Zone 4, that give color, shape, and texture throughout the year and stand up to strong winds and low temperatures. There are mixed grasses at the entrance, native plants and a dry creek with mosses and ferns leading to the front door, and a sculptural installation and a sunken patio/ room where there are tender perennials. Succulents and low-growing plants surround a seating area. Most of the plants have been selected and tended by the owners.

    Wagner Garden, 33 Haley Street, Williamstown

    One of the original Haley houses in Haley Village, Williamstown, this in-town house and garden on a quarter-acre lot has evolved over a period of seventeen years. The garden complements the simple lines of the 1940s house and is a creative example of what can be done in a small landscape. The garden has been designed and entirely maintained by the owner. Mixed borders consisting of perennials, shrubs, and ornamental trees create garden rooms that each have their own character. The lawn is used as a path to lead visitors from one area to another. Annuals and containers are used for continuous color, especially on the stone patio. A variety of vines have been used for privacy fences and to add visual height to the garden. Rather than an abundance of flowers, the main focus of the garden is on foliage textures and plants of personal interest.